


Merlin’s Phantasmagoria

by mssdare



Series: Summer Pornathon 2014 (my entries) [3]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Early 20th century AU, M/M, Magic, Summer Pornathon 2014, Underage Sex, trades and professions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-09
Updated: 2014-08-09
Packaged: 2018-02-12 11:04:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2107449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mssdare/pseuds/mssdare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s time to depart. Merlin's stayed here far too long already. There were last week's rains, and the oil leak in his truck, but Merlin knows that the real reason for the delay is the boy lying right now next to him on the roof of Merlin’s caravan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Merlin’s Phantasmagoria

**Author's Note:**

> My entry for round 3 of Summer Pornathon 2014.
> 
> Thank you Sillygoose for betaing!
> 
> Warning: Underage but age of consent in UK.
> 
> Inspired by The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

It's a hot summer night and Arthur has the sleeves of his shirt rolled up, suspenders hanging loosely around his hips. Merlin lies on his side, propped up on his bent arm so he can watch Arthur. By tomorrow he'll be out of this little town, having no more shows to perform in such a small community, and he'll miss Arthur’s handsome face.

"Do you have to go?" Arthur asks for what must be the thousandth time.

"Yes. I need to keep moving to earn my keep." Merlin's stayed here far too long already. It’s time to depart. There were last week's rains, and the oil leak in his truck, but he knows that the real reason for the delay is the boy lying right now next to him on the roof of Merlin’s caravan. They are hidden here from the world, high up behind the lit sign of _Merlin’s Phantasmagoria._

"Then take me with you," Arthur says.

Merlin shakes his head. They’ve been through this already. "No. You have your whole life here. Career ahead of you. Your father."

"I don't want to follow in my father's footsteps. I want adventure. I want to be a wizard, like you."

Merlin snorts. "It's just a profession, and a lousy one at that. It's tricks, not _magic_."

Arthur looks at Merlin in his ‘I-see-through-this’ way that makes Merlin squirm. "I know it's real. I saw you." And Merlin doesn't have it in him to deny it. "I want to learn how you create worlds inside of this caravan. I want to know how it's possible for me to enter and suddenly get lost in a forest, deep and vast. I want…to be with you. Please, Merlin."

Merlin sighs and leans over Arthur, sliding his fingers over warm skin from cheek to neck. He unbuttons Arthur's shirt so he can feel the hair on Arthur's chest and lowers his hand until it rests on Arthur’s navel, caressing the soft spot there.

Arthur's cheeks blush the way they usually do for fair boys, the pink going up to his temples and down his neck. Merlin thinks it’s adorable; he traces the colour with his fingertips and leans down to kiss Arthur where his neck meets his collarbone. Arthur smells like soap and fresh sweat, and maybe Merlin should be responsible here because Arthur's only seventeen, but fuck, Merlin's not much older and he's been very lonely. So he licks Arthur's skin and allows Arthur to grab his hips and pull him over Arthur's body. They grind against each other, and Merlin can feel how achingly hard Arthur is through their clothes.

"You can’t come with me," Merlin says. "But if you want"—He kisses Arthur hard, slipping his tongue inside Arthur's mouth and then biting Arthur's bottom lip—"you can have me tonight."

He rolls on his back, fishes out a little tube of Vaseline from his pocket, and hitches his hips up to slide down his trousers. He slicks Arthur’s fingertips with the grease and draws his hand down, showing Arthur how to open a man up. Arthur’s fingers shake when he pushes them into Merlin’s tight hole.

“Is this all right?” he asks, positioning himself above Merlin. His slacks are pulled down to his knees and his cock is hard and leaking, straining beautifully against Merlin’s flesh. When Merlin nods Arthur pushes in hard, past the resistance, making Merlin gasp and grit his teeth because it hurts, but it’s good, too. Arthur comes after four or five thrusts, and Merlin finishes himself off with rough, fast strokes.

Afterwards, Arthur finds Merlin's hand and they lie flat on their backs, staring at the sky.

"Make a wish." Arthur points to where a shooting star streaks across the inky night.

And Merlin shouldn't, he really shouldn't, but right in that moment he wishes Arthur could come with him on the road. He's been alone for so long now he doesn't even remember what it’s like to have someone.  
  
***

When Merlin heads out of town the next day, he feels odd, as if he can still sense Arthur’s presence next to him, but it does no good to think like that. As the miles tick by, he allows himself a moment of weakness, wiping away the tears that spill.

He stops to fill his tank in the next town, and when he climbs back into his truck, Arthur is sitting in the passenger seat.

"How did you...?" Merlin asks, stunned, his heart thumping hard.

"Magic." Arthur grins.

And Merlin thinks, _Yes._


End file.
